…Even Addiction Isn’t Recession-Proof
1. It is often said that in hard times, the things to which people are addicted are the last to get bumped off the grocery list. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. The sale of beer, wine and liquor is often thought to actually increase during hard times, as people take to the bottle for consolation. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, while the booze category is relatively stable during times of economic uncertainty, it’s not immune to a slowdown. Its VP of Economic and Strategy Analysis notes that growth in sales volume will fall from 2.9% between 2000 and 2006 to 1.9% in 2008. It may not seem like much, but that’s a lot of money being taken off the table. You can also imagine that people are buying cheaper booze - a sacrifice of quality for quantity.
2. What’s the easiest way to put a few extras dollars in your pocket when you need it most? Gambling! (Well…not really.) Somewhere in our heads we know that gambling is a loser’s gambit. And somewhere in our hearts (or guts) we feel that we can beat the odds. Unfortunately for casinos, it seems that the empty feeling in our pockets is ruling the roost. (It also doesn’t help that there’s a glut of places to gamble, and companies are tightening their travel-budget belts.) All the big gaming companies have recently reported weakness in their financial results. One Vegas visitor notes, “Gas and gambling kind of come out of the same pocket. I’ll have to have less action because my gas tank needs it.”
3. You’d figure that people would smoke regardless of circumstance. With nicotine being one of the most addictive substances around, it seems like a no-brainer to invest in cigarette stocks. Not so. Back in 2001, 7-Eleven noticed the emerging concept of a “working man’s recession” - sales of cigarette cartons give way to single packs, and beer sales began to shift from six-packs to single cans.
4. The Dallas Morning News points out that there is a recession in the trade of illegal drugs, with general demand down across the U.S. How could this be so? While they attribute most of the decline to heightened law enforcement, you have to imagine that drug use feels the pinch when you have less discretionary income to play with.
5. I’m not sure if this is an addiction (maybe for some), but it certainly is a sign of the times. The Movable Buffet: Dispatches from Las Vegas has an interesting read about how strippers are being urged to “recession-proof” their bodies. Classic.
